between the cracks
by chessboardsandcheckmates
Summary: Emma has been listening to this baby cry for the past three hours, and she has had enough. She needs to call for backup.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**...**

When David and Mary Margaret decided to have a baby last year, Emma was one hundred percent on board. She even threw them a baby shower, with Belle's help, and bought them a ton of gender-neutral onesies.

But eleven months later, now that she's their permanent unpaid babysitter, Emma is starting to see the whole thing in a completely different light.

"Please, please stop crying, Eva. I can't take it anymore."

Little Eva screams even louder, if possible, and almost blows out Emma's left eardrum. She is really going to have to invest in some earplugs sometime in the near future.

"Mary Margaret is coming home very, very soon, okay kid? Just hang in there for me."

Eva either completely ignores her or simply refuses to quiet down. Rude.

At first, the crying was bearable, but now that it's been three straight hours, Emma is ready to tear her hair out.

Henry seems to think Emma is a great mother. He says that because she's the Savior, she should have no problem getting the new baby to like her. Well, she hates to ruin his image of her for the umpteenth time, but that is a colossal load of crap.

"David? Hi, it's Emma," she keeps the phone pressed to her ear as she gently bounces Eva up and down. "Just wondering, when the baby won't stop crying, is she hungry? Burpy? Tired?"

David laughs on the other end of the phone.

"Just love her, Emma. That's all that babies need." Emma makes a conscious effort not to roll her eyes.

"All I need is for your kid to stop crying."

"Just use your instincts Emma. You'll be great."

And then he's gone and Emma is right back at square one.

Her instincts. Well, her instincts are telling her to call for backup. Her instincts are telling her to call the woman who raised a son on her own for eleven years. But that means tolerating the condescending looks Regina will throw her when she realizes she's been right all along about Emma's parenting skills (or lack thereof).

She can't call Regina. Calling Regina is the kiss of death and Emma will never live it down. Under no circumstances is she going to throw herself under the bus like that.

But she can't call any of the nuns on such short notice, and she can't very well call Ruby…she wouldn't trust that girl within five feet of Eva. Her parents are gone, Belle is working late at the library, even Nova is busy hanging lights with Leroy tonight.

So she calls Tink.

It's not ideal, not even close, but she doesn't have much of a choice. And at least Tink won't tease her mercilessly about it. She'll probably be perfectly polite and sweet and perfect, like she always is. Emma is going to hate every second of it.

"Hey, Tink? It's Emma. I could…look, I could really use your help right now."

**… ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

"The baby won't stop crying."

"I can see that," Tink says, and she smiles over at Eva, who has quieted down a bit now that there's a new presence in the room. But the crying, while not as screechy, still hasn't stopped, and Emma twists her hands together with pent up frustration.

"I have tried everything. That baby hates me."

Tink laughs lightly.

"I doubt that. She's just a little bit excited. Here, let me try something."

Tink lifts Eva out of Emma's arms and holds the baby up against her chest.

"Shh…it's all right. I've got you," Tink murmurs. After a few minutes, Eva's crying turns to sniffling, and then fades away altogether.

"Okay, how the hell did you do that."

Emma isn't sure if she wants to leap for joy or strangle someone.

Tink shrugs, still whispering loving little things into Eva's ear.

"Babies are sometimes soothed when they hear a heartbeat. It comforts them, lulls them to sleep. I do it with Kira all the time. Works like a charm."

Emma groans, letting her head fall back against the wall.

"I'm a horrible babysitter. And a bad sister."

Tink nudges her lightly and tells her not to be so melodramatic.

"You're not a bad caregiver, Emma. You just need some more practice. Nothing to be ashamed of. I was a disaster with Kira at first, but then I learned."

"How?"

"Well, I had a good teacher."

Emma sighs. "Right."

Tink's cell phone rings and she silences it by accident.

"Crap! I meant to answer it," she buries her face in her free hand. "I'm hopeless with these things. Henry's been trying to teach me but I'm afraid I'm no good. And Regina's phone is ten times more complicated. It's got all these funny little buttons that look exactly the same."

"Hey, you were alone for a long time," Emma notes. "In Neverland. How did you settle back into having a family?"

"I never had a family to start with," Tink says. "But, I don't know...I thought it might be weird at first, having one of my own. But I love Regina. I really love her, so...it wasn't hard. Love's the most important piece. Once you've got that, you've got everything."

Emma glances down at Tink's left hand. On her finger is a huge rock that probably cost more than anything Emma has ever owned. Emma vaguely remembers the wedding. Lots of roses, Regina in a long white dress, Henry dressed in a suit and tie, looking far, far too grown up.

"I don't get what you see in her."

It's out of Emma's mouth before she can stop it, and immediately she wishes she could take it back.

"Well, she's an amazing cook, for one."

Emma lets out a short laugh.

"Have you tasted her lasagna? It's incredible."

"No, I haven't. She's only ever cooked for me when she was trying to poison me."

Tink could take the bait, but she doesn't, and Emma is grateful for it.

"You didn't know her before," Tink says quietly, pressing a kiss to Eva's forehead. "And I guess now, it's harder for people to see her. To see what's underneath."

"What's underneath?"

Tink smiles and shoots Emma a look.

"Maybe one of these days you should try to find out for yourself."

"Yeah...maybe."

Emma thinks of Henry, then, about how nice it would be for him if she and Regina were closer. He wouldn't feel so awkward bouncing between two houses anymore.

Tink's phone rings again and this time Emma takes pity on her and accepts the call.

"Hello?"

"Emma, put my wife on the phone. Now."

Emma practically hurls the phone at Tink and mouths "she's mad". Tink frowns, like she and Regina have never had a fight before and the prospect of Regina being angry with her is completely unheard of. Emma almost wonders if that's true. It occurs to her that she knows nothing about their relationship.

Tink places the baby in Emma's arms and presses the phone to her ear.

"Hey Regina. Woah, slow down…I'm fine. I've just been helping Emma with-" Emma starts shaking her head violently. "Something."

"Regina…I'm really okay, calm down-"

"I am calm!" Emma hears the response from five feet away and bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Tink looks so uncharacteristically flustered and yes, Emma will admit she's enjoying it a bit.

But then there's a sound, like faint crying, from the other end of the phone.

"Oh," Tink looks taken aback, and she glances over at Emma, who just shrugs helplessly, because she has really never understood Regina and probably never will.

"Regina, you're scaring me. I'm coming home right now. Just, give me a few minutes."

When Tink hangs up the first thing she does is toy with her ring. Emma nudges her lightly.

"Don't worry, your marriage is safe. You're the only adult in this town she can stand for more than five minutes."

Tink shakes her head.

"She thought I'd left Storybrooke."

"But you didn't."

"No…but I think she keeps expecting me to."

Eva starts gurgling a bit and Emma moves to hand her back to Tink.

"I can't, Emma. I have to go."

"Tink, wait, don't leave me with her, I have no idea what I'm doing."

Tink slips on her jacket and swings open the front door. "Emma," she says, turning back for just a moment. "No relationship is perfect. Trust me. You're doing just fine."

The words sit with Emma long after Tink is gone. They calm her a bit, a lot, really, and when she looks back down at Eva, who is staring up at her with wide eyes, definitely not crying, Emma thinks, for the first time, that maybe she could be a damned good big sister.

**… ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

Emma invites Tink over for Thanksgiving. Regina, too, so that Henry doesn't have to split the holiday between his two families.

It goes rather well, probably because Snow and Regina make a concerted effort not to interact with one another, and when Snow calls them all in for dinner, everyone seems to be getting along famously.

And if Emma ends up sitting right next to Tink at the dinner table, well, it's a total coincidence. Completely unplanned.

Okay, so maybe just a little bit planned.

Because if Emma's being honest, it's been a long time since she's had a close friend. And even though Emma wants to hate her, even though Tinkerbell's effortless ease with children and parenting makes her so jealous she wants to scream, Tinkerbell is also infuriatingly easy to like.

And when Tinkerbell is around, Regina, with her easy smile and her new baby girl in her arms, is almost easy to like, too.


End file.
